Finding Freedom Essay, Research Paper

Finding Freedom

In both Frederick Douglass The Battle with Mr. Covey and in

Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character finds a

force more powerful then he. Not only do they experience physical abuse,

they also find themselves mentally beaten. To save themselves, both

characters flee in search of freedom.

In The Battle with Mr. Covey Douglass portrays a slave

struggling for his life. One afternoon, the slave s strength failed him.

Despite many attempts at getting up, he couldn t find his feet.

Although trying to explain to Mr. Covey what was wrong, Covey gave him a

savage kicking the side. He then picked up a hickory slab and hit him over

the head. As his physical wounds progressively got worse, he was beginning to

be mentally scarred as well. Despite a near death experience, Covey just left

him to his fate. This was when Covey realized he had to go to his master. He

proceeded to walk seven miles through the woods, making his physical stature

even worse. This being his attempt at freedom however, he had to bear the

pain. Despite the savage look of Douglass, master Thomas seemed to believe

Covey would never hurt him. In his seven miles of walking with unbearable

pain, he only received one night away from Covey. Upon the return to Covey,

he felt it was time for rebellion. He then made a desperate attempt at freedom

by seizing Mr. Covey hard by the throat. He later says that that battle

was the turning point for his career as a slave. By showing how the slave

found freedom, he truly showed how a slave was made a man.

In Mark Twain s The adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn, a boy

struggling mentally and physically, finds himself in search of freedom as

Douglass had. The exert opens with Huck living in a home in which

civilization is the primary goal. Although he became educated, Pap shows up

in search of money. At first Huck seems reluctant, but then decides to go

with him. Although being caged like an animal in the shanty he moved into,

he, in a since, became more free. Huck was away from the burden of being

civilized, which is a sort of confinement in it self. He is now able to curse

freely, and no longer has to dress up. Although he attains this mental

freedom, his physical freedom has now diminished. His dad also freely uses

physical abuse as a way to punish his son. For this reason, Huck decides to

make a second attempt at freedom. He tunnels out of the shanty much in a way

a prisoner would. He makes an escape and for a second time finds freedom.

The physical and mental freedom had been attained, but after meeting Jim on an

island, mental abuse begins. Jim is caught one afternoon when Huck, tired of

fish, goes trading. He later stops them from killing him and attains freedom

of mind as well.

In both works, the main character is forced to rebel in search of

freedom. Both characters were able to attain this freedom in the end and

truly showed how a boy can become a man.